Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

This tender, beer-infused Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage is the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Using the pressure cooker function makes it easy and convenient to cook a traditional corned beef dinner in less time. For a recipe without an Instant Pot, check out my Beer-Braised Corned Beef.

Since I got my Instant Pot, I’ve been having fun adapting and testing some of my classic recipes in it, mostly to see how the results differ using the pressure cooker function.

Being perfectly honest, I’ve found that I do prefer some dishes cooked with traditional processes. As I’ve said before, I don’t think my heart will ever stray from its devotion to slow-braises in my Dutch oven!

Many times, though, the dishes that have emerged from my pressure cooker have been just as well-enjoyed as their slowly-cooked counterparts, with an added bonus of the convenience of not having to watch a pot for 3 or 4 hours on the stove or in the oven. Our yearly Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner has been one of those.

Adapting my beer braised corned beef for the Instant Pot was one of the first things I had in mind when I bought it. We were not disappointed! The pressure cooker corned beef, infused with aromatic pickling spices and lager, was just as tender, succulent, and full-flavored as when I make it in my Dutch oven.

Making Instant Pot Corned Beef

As with most classic recipes I’ve adapted for the Instant Pot, I found that I needed more spices and less liquid than when I cook a corned beef on the stove or in a Dutch oven. I doubled my usual pickling spices from 1 tablespoon to 2 to infuse into the brisket, and only needed 4 cups of liquid total, as compared to 5-6.

Unlike other meats, I don’t recommend making Instant Pot Corned Beef with the minimum amount of liquid required for the unit (usually 1 to 1-1/2 cups). Corned beef can be very salty, and without adding enough liquid to reach to the sides of the brisket, you won’t draw enough of that salt out of the meat during the cooking process.

How Long Does it Take to Cook Corned Beef in a Pressure Cooker?

Instant Pot corned beef saves you about an hour of time, as compared to my Dutch oven braised corned beef recipe. In comparison to crockpot corned beef recipes, which can take up to 8 hours, it’s substantially quicker.

For a 4-pound corned beef (flat or point cut), we liked the texture of the meat best when cooked at high pressure for 85 minutes, with a 20-minute natural release. The meat was fork-tender, but still sliceable against the grain without falling apart. Adding about 15 minutes to the cooking process for the Instant Pot to heat up to pressure, the corned beef itself takes about 2 hours total.

We always make a corned beef around 4 pounds to ensure leftovers for sandwiches and corned beef hash, but if you make a much smaller brisket, it will likely need a shorter cooking time. Instant Pot recommends 70 minutes at high pressure for 2 pound briskets, with an abbreviated natural release.

Cooking Vegetables for a Pressure Cooker Corned Beef Dinner

Adding potatoes, carrots, and cabbage to an Instant Pot corned beef dinner is a breeze. I like to strain the cooking liquid after I remove the corned beef from the pot, and discard the pickling spices and solids. Then, I just add some of strained liquid back into the pot with the vegetables, and cook on high pressure for 3-4 minutes, with a manual release.

I love the flavor that the pressure cooker infuses into the vegetables from the beer-based cooking liquid. I don’t usually get that excited about boiled or steamed cabbage wedges, but I really enjoyed the flavor of these.

Serving Instant Pot Corned Beef

When the corned beef comes out of the Instant Pot, I like to place it in a dish with a bit of the reserved cooking liquid and cover with foil to keep the meat warm and juicy. When ready to serve, slice the brisket against the grain in 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices.

If there is a substantial fat cap on the corned beef, you might want to trim it down or remove it entirely before slicing. This is entirely a matter of personal preference. We like to serve the brisket with some of the fat left on.

When serving, spoon a little bit of the strained cooking liquid over the sliced corned beef on the platter, and offer guests whole grain mustard on the side. I sprinkle the vegetables with chopped fresh parsley for a pop of color and freshness, and sometimes, treat them to a light drizzling of melted butter.

Recipe Video

Print

Instant Pot Corned Beef

A tender corned beef and cabbage dinner, infused with the light flavor of lager-style beer and warm pickling spices. This recipe is written for a 4-pound corned beef using a 6-quart Instant Pot.

Instructions

Combine onion, garlic, pickling spices, and water in the insert of an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker. Place the corned beef brisket, fat side up, on a rack on top of the onions. Pour beer over the brisket.

Seal lid and set the unit to HIGH pressure for 85 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.* Remove corned beef and place on a dish or a cutting board, spooning a bit of the cooking liquid over the top. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Strain cooking liquid and discard solids. Return 1-1/2 cups of liquid to the Instant Pot and add potatoes, carrots, and cabbage wedges. (Reserve remaining cooking liquid.) Seal lid and set the unit to HIGH pressure for 3-4 minutes, depending on how soft you like your vegetables. Quick release pressure.

Slice corned beef against the grain. Spoon a little bit of the reserved cooking liquid over the corned beef slices on your platter. Sprinkle parsley over the vegetables, and if desired, drizzle with melted butter. Serve corned beef with mustard.

Recipe Notes

*Since the beer foams up in the pressure cooker during the corned beef cooking process, you might find that the initial force of manually releasing the steam (after the 20 minute natural release) causes some liquid to spray out of the valve. Sometimes it's happened to me, other times, it hasn't.

A little bit of liquid is fine, but if you release the pressure and find that too much liquid is coming out, re-seal the valve, and try releasing the remaining pressure again in another 5 minutes. Or, release the steam more slowly by turning the valve just until you hear a hissing noise and carefully holding it in that position (be sure to wear a heat-proof glove).

Some have recommended covering the lid/valve with a towel while releasing the pressure. Do not do this, as obstructing the vent can damage your pressure cooker and cause a safety issue.

To Glaze The Corned Beef (Optional)

This corned beef is also delicious served with my Irish Whiskey-Mustard glaze. The ingredients and directions can be found in my recipe, Beer Braised Corned Beef with Whiskey Mustard Glaze. After fully cooking the corned beef in the Instant Pot (instead of Dutch oven braising), follow the directions to "Glaze and Serve".

Have you made this recipe? Let me know by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below! Don’t forget to take a picture and tag @stripedspatula and #stripedspatula on Instagram for a chance to be featured in my newsletter!

You May Also Enjoy

Reader Interactions

Comments

Oh my gosh, what a delicious corned beef recipe! I still haven’t mustered the courage to open my 1 year old instant pot box. I think I may have to so I can make instant pot corned beef! The video really eased my instant pot fears. :)

Your corned beef looks to have the most perfect texture!!! Great tip about using enough water to ensure your beef isn’t salty. I wouldn’t have thought of that as like you I usually have to reduce the water when I convert a recipe to my IP.

We are just heading out of summer here, so in the coming months this will definitely be on the menu!

This was such an interesting read! I love how well you’ve tested the Instant Pot version vs the braised version- it makes total sense that you’d need to increase the spices and decrease the liquid, since I’m sure less liquid evaporates while cooking. And you really performed a miracle with those photos- I’ve never seen corned beef look so gorgeous!

I don’t have an Instant Pot, but I do have a pressure cooker. I think it would work well with this recipe too. Love the convenience of these “fast cooking” gadgets. This recipe sounds amazing, and would be the perfect dinner to celebrate St. Paddy’s day with.

This looks absolutely delicious! I loved all of your tips for releasing the pressure. That part is super confusing when you first start experimenting with the Instant Pot. Cooking the vegetables in those juices must give it incredible flavor. I can not wait to eat this on St. Patrick’s Day!

Those are all great notes on cooking this in an instant pot. I can see how it would cut down on the cooking time. It looks amazing in the pictures and I can just tell it’s fork tender, I’m a little biased because I love Irish recipes. This reminds me of when Dad would cook this on Sundays. I have very fond memories of this recipe, thank you for sharing!

I really need to get an instant pot! I keep reading about all sorts of great recipes that I want to try. Thanks for the tips on seasoning and liquids – these will come in handy once I have my own instant pot. In the meantime, your beer braised Dutch oven recipe sounds really awesome. :)

Mmmm this looks SO good. But I’m with you – can’t ever replace the dutch oven!! Those potatoes are calling my name – they look PERFECT. I love a good corned beef, too and saving an hour is always a plus, too!

The cook on this looks absolutely perfect! It’s really amazing what you can do in an Instant Pot. I need to play around with mine more. You know, I think St. Patrick’s is the only holiday that I’ve never cooked for or eaten for. I need to change that! I don’t eat beef anymore but there are so many delicious things I can still eat. (Cabbage! Potatoes!) I wonder if I can come up with a pescetarian spin on corn beef? Hahaha.

I don’t own an instant pot but I would be happy to make your recipe in my good old Dutch oven. My mouth is watering just looking at this wonderful meat and vegetables. This is totally the kind of meal we love in my family and I too make sure that there’s enough for leftovers. I will try your recipe for our next Sunday dinner!

This looks incredible. Thank you for the detailed write up. I will give it a shot tomorrow. A question on the beer foaming, could you use a beer that has been flattened (poured into glasses until it stops bubbling)?

This is a great question, and one that my taste tester and I wondered about as we were working through the recipe with our various briskets. While I didn’t pour it into a glass, the beer that was poured into the instant pot for the video did sit in there for a good bit of time and flatten before I continued with the recipe (just from the time it takes to stop and adjust lighting and camera settings for the different shots in a video). Even so, I still got a bit of liquid from the valve on the release. I think it has a lot to do with the quantity of liquid in the pot (unfortunately, with a smaller quantity, we found the beef almost inedibly salty). If you try pouring the beer in a glass first I’d love to know the results!

Had this today and it turned out perfect. Must have read a half dozen recipes before deciding on this one. Used 1 bottle Guiness Stout. Had 3 cups of liquid left over that I had to throw out. Next time I wonder how cooking some of it down on the sauté function would work. I did the 80 minutes and 20 NPR and it could be cut without shredding but was tender. Perfect. Thank you.

Hi Kip, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Personally, I wouldn’t recommend reducing the cooking liquid on the sauté function, as it’s quite salty and that flavor will become even more concentrated. I like to save some of the leftover cooking liquid in a container to use when reheating leftovers on the stove for sandwiches—-a little added to a sauté pan with the sliced meat helps it steam up juicy! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Wow, best corned beef ever. We only had the pickling spice package that was included with the meat, and we did not have any beer, so I used 14 oz of high quality beef stock. I am so accustomed to mixing it all together in a slow cooker or a roasting pan….happy to say that this was so much better!

I’m thrilled to know that you enjoyed the recipe, Kandy! We, too, were so pleasantly surprised by the results in the Instant Pot. So tender! Love the sound of a bowl of vegetable soup on a cold day, too!

Made this tonight for St. Patty’s Day! It was incredibly delicious and came out perfect! The only change I made was to cut full size carrots vs use baby carrots. I love that the recipe calls for using a 4 lb corned beef to have leftovers! So easy and fast in the Instant Pot! The best Corned beef we have ever had! Thank you 😊

I made this tonight and we loved it, the meat was very tender and cooking the vegetables separate was awesome- my husband said wow the carrots taste like carrots and the cabbage was delicious! We were previously making it all in the crock pot and everything tasted the same. Great recipe, will definitely make this a new tradition! Thanks!

I truly need to make corned beef more than once a year. I absolutely love it but only save it for St. Patrick’s Day! I always cook mine in the slow cooker (10 hours on low) but next time, I’m totally using my IP to see how it turns out and see how much faster it cooks! I also love to serve mine with whole grain mustard. Yum!

I’m so glad you and your husband liked the recipe, Staci! I really liked the cabbage prepared this way – it seemed so much more flavorful than stovetop! I generally use the pickling spice from Savory Spice Shop. (savoryspiceshop.com), though I’ve also used McCormick’s when I haven’t been able to get to the spice shop. I love how fresh the spices are at Savory and that they’ll jar them fresh for you!